Filipino Joanna Arong, Burkinabe Michel K. Zongo and Brazilian Gustavo Pizzi head to Cannes with latest projects. Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck [pictured] is honorary patron.

The Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde, aimed at finding finance for the work of filmmakers from the developing world, has unveiled the project line-up for its latest edition during the Cannes Film Festival.

The projects include Filipino Joanna Arong’s The Sigbin Chronicles, a hybrid work revolving around a mythical Filipino creature, and Michel K. Zongo’s The Siren of Faso Fani about the impact of the closure of a textile factory on a small Burkina Faso town. Burkinabe Zongo’s Espoir Voyage premiered in Berlin’s Forum to critical acclaim in 2011.

Haitian Pierre Lucson Bellegarde will unveil Carmen, his first feature-length film after a series of UNICEF-backed shorts capturing the plight of his fellow citizens in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that wreaked havoc on Haiti.

Award-winning Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi will present The Mercy of the Jungle — a retribution drama set in the aftermath of the Second Congo War, which led to the deaths of some 5.4m people in the region. Karekezi, who studied filmmaking in Montreal, co-wrote the script with US filmmaker Casey Schroen. The pair previously collaborated on the award-winning Imbabazi tackling the legacy of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck will act as honorary patron at this year’s event giving a master class to the participants.

Launched in 2009, the Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde has hosted projects from 60 directors from 35 countries to date. Some 15% of the projects presented have gone on to be made and several are in post-production. In 2012, 80% of the projects signed co-production deals within six months of the event.

Success stories among past selected projects include Algerian Djamila Sahraoui’s Yema, which won a Silver Stallion at the FESPACO pan-African film festival in 2013 and also screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section, and Bolivian Martin Boulocq’s Los Viejos which premiered at Busan in 2011.

The Fabrique is housed in the Cinéma du Monde pavilion at Cannes. It is a joint initiative between the Institut francais, the International Organisation of La Francophonie and the Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France, an umbrella organisation grouping international French-language broadcasters.

The complete list of projects is as follows:

Before Leaving, dir. Mohammed Latrèche (Algeria)

Territoria dir. Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)

Loveling, dir. Gustavo Pizzi (Brazil)

The Siren of Faso Fani, dir. Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)

The Taste in our Tongues, dir. Monica Bravo (Columbia)

Carmen, dir. Pierre Lucson Bellegarde (Haiti)

Jambula Tree, dir. Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya/South Africa)

The Sigbin Chronicles, dir. Joanna Arong (Philippines)

The Mercy of the Jungle, dir. Joel Karekezi (Rwanda)

For more details, visit Les Cinémas du Monde’s website.

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